


What Comes Next

by orphan_account



Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: AU, Ben/Diego, Multi, The Umbrella Academy - Freeform, gerard way - Freeform, the hargreeves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-11-05 20:53:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 18,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17926163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: An alternate universe/timeline in which the umbrella academy manages to not blow up the moon. Or at least freeze time when they do. Drabble ensues.





	1. 00.06

**Author's Note:**

> Yay for backstories I half make up, half incorporate from the show and comics! Forgive me for not having read the comics entirely yet but dw, I intend on reading them soon and possibly writing more if you guys like these! Let me know in the comments if you have any scenes you'd like to see!  
> Enjoy!

Ben had become use to being intangibly dead. After the... incident, all those years ago, Ben had forgotten what it felt like to _feel_ anything at all. After feeling so much all at once, and then nothing at all for some 15 years now, the sensation was all but brand new to him. When he had punched Klaus, Ben was the most shocked out of the two; he hadn't expected an impact at all, and additionally, he’d forgotten exactly what impact meant. 

Things happened quickly for the umbrella academy, however, and before Ben knew it he was shoving Diego out of the way of falling debris that shouldn't have scared him anyway (he was already dead; he would've been fine). He'd ran to his brother on instinct, not knowing what to do but knowing he had to do something. And when _something_ actually happened, Ben had been more stunned than relieved at the time. How? How was this just now happening? He'd tried so hard for so long, tried and wished that he could have been the brother Klaus actually needed, and nothing. Nothing but the weightless nothingness that was his whole world. 

And then it hit him; Klaus. Klaus had never understood why he'd had such mundane abilities, and it dawned on Ben that Klaus had never really tried to use them. He'd hated it, right from the start, right from the first time he'd communicated with the dead and The Monocle had that dreaded gleam in his eyes. The man ruined Klaus from the first time he heard one of his little prodigies talking to what normal children would call imaginary friends. Klaus had never known what he was truly capable of; Ben guessed that this was it. Physically manifesting the dead. 

And finally, in the theater. That dreaded, unimaginably horrifying feeling of _I have to do this. They need me._ This time, Ben could feel Klaus' energy coursing through him, but he didn't remember what came after. Frankly, he didn't want to. But he knew, saw the massacre and felt the exhaustion and knew They had done their job. 

Being intangibly dead was so much better than that. 

And then there was now. Now, in this unexplainable, frozen moment in a nonexistent timeline where Ben could somewhat feel. He knew that this was Klaus, and knew Klaus couldn't really help it, but wished nonetheless that he could control it somehow. Ben didn't want to feel anything this time, because now, he felt exhausted and guilty. And he'd gotten use to the nothingness. 

Right now, the academy was back at the house, where Pogo and mom were frozen like the rest of the world, but the house remained. Ben was sitting with Klaus on the roof, watching the stillness of the city below them. Klaus looked troubled, which was rare for his brother, sober or otherwise.

"Klaus? Something wrong?"

Klaus hummed a reply, still staring glassily up at the sky. Ben reached out a hesitant hand, touching his brother's shoulder and causing him to jump back so violently that he nearly lost his balance on the sloped roof beneath them.

"Sorry," Klaus muttered, scooting back. "I forgot you could do that now. We could do that now? I think I have PTSD."

Ben blinked in surprise. Klaus did this often, tacking a heavy topic onto the end of a casual sentence. 

"Why do you say that?"

Klaus shrugged, seeming mostly unbothered for the weight of his words. "I dream about it. I hear it all the time, the gunfire and the screams. I don't see anyone, but-" He abruptly stood up, pacing in front of Ben far too quickly for his liking. 

"But...?" Ben prompted, his eyes following Klaus' thin frame back and forth, back and forth. 

"But I've tried."

And then Ben understood. "Dave."

Klaus' steps faltered a bit, but didn't stop. "Yeah, what a lad. Haven't been able to," Klaus waggled his fingers in the air. "Yet." 

Ben nodded. As much as he'd like to take credit, he knew that the reason for Klaus' sudden sobriety was Dave. Ben hadn't been by his brother's side for that alternative year, had only left Klaus' side because he knew that Klaus had escaped from Hazel and Cha-Cha, but he saw what it did to him. Klaus had never chosen to be sober, not in the fifteen years Ben had been dead, or even in a few before that. Ben had the balm of nothingness and death; Klaus had the balm of filling his body with the only peace he knew he could rely on. 

And Dave had broken through all that, somehow, and Ben had a fleeting feeling of regret that he'd never get to meet the man his brother loved. He must've been special, for Klaus to give him the time of day at all. Klaus didn't give Klaus the time of day.

Currently, his brother was gnawing at a fingernail on one hand and pulling at his dog tags with the other, avoiding Ben's eyes. Now that Ben could feel, he felt sad, sad for Klaus and everything he had lost and everything he had been through. Arguably, Klaus ended up with the worst lot of them all.

"Maybe Dave's scared? I know I was when I first considered talking to you. And Dave doesn't know you can do that, so maybe-"

Klaus' laugh was the last thing Ben expected to hear. "Why are you laughing?" he asked, wondering if Klaus was genuinely sober.

Klaus giggled again, abruptly sitting down again and looking much less bothered. "It's funny, Benny. Funny that I'm a junkie more worried about chatting it up with the ghost of my dead lover than the impending doom we're all facing. What a joke!" 

Ben wasn't pleased with this answer, returning Klaus' smile with a frown. "You're not a junkie. Not anymore, now that-" Klaus interrupted his sentence with a sputtering laugh, causing Ben to glare. "You're not a junkie, Klaus," he reaffirmed. 

"Want to put some money where your mouth is? Because-"

Ben had had enough. Had had enough of 15 years of tagging along and watching his brother try to slowly poison himself. "Shut up, for fucks sake. You're really gonna go get high? After all this trying? That's weak, Klaus, and beyond stupid."

Klaus still didn't get it, gesturing broadly over himself and bowing deeply with a flourish. "Weak and stupid, at your service!"

Completely done, Ben blinked out of visibility, refusing to argue with Klaus any more. He wandered the halls of the house, going wherever he pleased for the first time in his life. Or, after life? He didn't really know, nor did he care.

It was hours later before Ben heard a loud yell, catching the attention of everyone in the house. Ben could tell it was Diego, which was odd in of itself, and focused on him as he blinked to where Diego was kneeling over Klaus. Unconscious, eyes-rolling-back Klaus, who had decided to do this shit at exactly the wrong time. 

Leave it to Klaus.


	2. 00.04

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has mentions of drugs and self-destructive behavior, so please proceed with caution if you need to!

_Dying is so peaceful_ , Klaus thought, swimming in the blackness of his overdose. He hadn't expected it to be, considering how loud the dead usually were. Maybe it had to do with how they died, he thought; Ben had died loudly, and was still loud all these years later. The honorable Sir Reginald had never been there when he was alive, and that held true in his afterlife. 

Dave had been quiet. Dave was still quiet.

But Klaus didn't care anymore. Maybe he'd finally find Dave in whatever hell of an afterlife he was going to. Maybe, in death, he could silence the voices by slamming a door in their faces. Maybe, this was for the best. 

He hadn't tried to do this, of course. He'd found a prescription bottle, easily enough, and figured after all the times he'd taken medicine with whiskey, he'd be fine. Right? 

Wrong. This time, he was so, so wrong, and the consequences were immediate. His chest tightened, his throat closed, and there was the blanket of unconsciousness. He tried to wake up, tried to figure out how to open his eyes again, but it was no use. Klaus had never been good at coming back to reality. 

After it seemed that the afterlife was just nothingness and an endless sea of darkness, Klaus became scared. He wasn't in public, was only in his room, alone, with the door closed, and Ben wasn't even there. So the chances of being found this time, in time, were slim. 

He only knew he'd been found because of the faint voices floating to him from seemingly nowhere. He couldn't decided who the voice was, whether it was real or not, and so he waited. And waited. 

And was jerked back to reality by a painful pressure in his chest and stomach, having no clear source but a very clear effect. Klaus couldn't breathe, dry heaving until he was fully pulled back into consciousness by his own retching. He felt hot, still couldn't breathe, and knew there were a lot of people around him right now. He was aware of these things, but didn't care, only able to focus on his stomach’s refusal to stop betraying him. Wave after wave of nausea hit, burning his throat after each and making him so dizzy he swore off drugs forever, right then and there, if he never had to throw up again. 

Once he was completely empty of anything and everything, he felt himself pushed back onto what must have been a table, cold through the back of his shirt. His eyes refused to focus still, rolling around and only catching glimpses through the flutter of his eyelids. Diego, over him, crying. Ben, in the corner, looking a little mad and a lot guilty. Five, rolling his eyes, looking pissed as always, Dave-

Dave? 

Klaus struggled to sit up, sucking in a huge breath and sputtering on words that wouldn't come out. His brother thought he was choking, pounding his back repeatedly, but Klaus was only focused on Dave's wispy frame that he could barely make out through the tears in his eyes. A pain shot through his chest like a bullet, and Klaus was submerged in blackness once more. 

 

He awoke to a room full of less people, but people nonetheless. It was his room, he could tell, and Diego saw him stir first. 

"Klaus, what-"

"Dave? Ben, did you see Dave? Earlier?" Klaus searched the room frantically, eyes wild and landing on Ben's shocked face. "Did you-"

Diego put a firm hand over Klaus mouth, shushing him gently. "Klaus, it's alright. You're here, we're here. What did you-"

Klaus wasn't having it, slapping Diego's hand away and sitting up with dizzying speed. "Ben!" he pleaded, eyes watering. "Was he there? In the kitchen?"

Ben hesitated, chewing his lip and seeming like he wished he were invisible. "I... I didn't see him, Klaus, no. But I was more focused on you than-"

Klaus collapsed, his breath whooshing out of his lungs and causing his chest to ache. So he'd been hallucinating. Klaus had never really been sure he'd ever hallucinated anything, taking what he saw as truth because of his abilities. When he first saw Ben, he hadn't been surprised, not even thinking his brother was still alive. He'd accepted that Ben was a ghost and that's how his fucked up life was. 

So when Dave showed up, Klaus hadn't even considered that he was half-dead and imagining things. He'd seen Dave and thought finally, finally he'd broke through to him. But no. It was all some sick trick his shithole of a brain conjured up. 

As Klaus wished for death, Diego was becoming aggressively more upset. "Klaus, I'm sorry about Dave, but you really need to-"

"Need to what?" Klaus snapped back, truly angry for the first time either of his brother's had seen. "'Need to calm down'?" he air-quoted. "'Need to get some rest'? 'Need to just breathe'? Both of you, kindly fuck off."

Both men were stunned into silence, staring at Klaus as though he had finally lost his mind. And maybe he had! Klaus was done pretending he was okay anymore. He. Was. Not. Okay.

The last thing Klaus expected to see was Diego tear up at his outburst. His brother’s eyes kept flickering from where Ben was sitting to Klaus, the tears there but not falling. Diego wouldn't let that happen. Diego didn't- 

"We're not fucking off," Diego began, softer than Klaus knew he could speak. Diego was always yelling, always aggressive and angry, but he seemed like a different person now. 

"We're not fucking off because that's all we've done for 30 years. But not this time, not anymore. And you can throw a hissy fit all you want, but I'm not leaving your side and I doubt Ben-" and Diego's eyes clicked back to their dead brother, surprising Klaus more than anything yet. "Will either. So shut up, okay?" The last part was accompanied with a smile, which Klaus half-heartedly returned. 

"You can see Ben?" he asked tentatively, causing Diego to roll his eyes. 

"I fucking guess. You're so sober right now that you're unconsciously making him visible. Hey, Ben," Diego waved, and Ben grinned. 

“Hey.”

Klaus was still upset, but this did cheer him up, if only by a minuscule amount. “Glad to know forced sobriety helps in some way. Can I have an aspirin by chance?”

Diego’s face darkened. “No. No more pills, I don’t trust-” Diego’s mouth clamped shut around the words, but Klaus understood.

“You don’t trust me.”

“Can you blame me?” Diego held his hands up. “You’ve always been unpredictable. And besides, you’ve probably built up a tolerance for basic aspirin.”

A fair point. Klaus yawned, waving at Diego and Ben with both hands. “Shoo, I want sleep. Set up a patrol outside, macho man, but I want to sleep in peace. Your stare is loud.”

Diego sighed, shaking his head at Klaus’ dramatics but obliging nonetheless, pausing at the doorway and glancing at Ben again. “Will Ben still be here if you… if your asleep?”

Klaus shrugged, genuinely not knowing. “Guess we’ll find out.”


	3. 00.02

“So, how’ve you been?”

Ben’s voice was as soft as it had always been, just as timid and concerned, and no sooner had Diego shut the door to Klaus’ room before he was whirling around and throwing his arms over the man's shoulders.

“I’ve been missing you, that’s how.”

Ben was tense at first, almost as if he had forgotten how to hug. Slowly he relaxed, carefully embracing Diego in return. “I’ve missed you, too.”

Diego remembered how fond he used to be of Ben, even if the two were the most unlikely to get along of the seven. Diego had always been one of the loudest siblings, constantly fighting with Luther and yelling at the others for arbitrary reasons. The other six may have grown up with the worse-off baggage, but Diego inherited most of, if not all, the anger.

Ben, on the flip-side, had been the quietest, the most withdrawn, hardly speaking more than Vanya, who hadn’t really even been allowed to. He’d hated missions, while Diego had loved them; Diego even remembered being jealous of Ben for a time, since his brother had such a ‘cool’ power and Diego’s was essentially glorified knife-throwing. That’s how he saw it as a child, at least; he now knew that Ben would have rather been dealt any other ability.

Once Ben had died, Diego had realized that he had been his favorite sibling. Too late, of course; it was true that you really didn’t know what you had until it was gone. Diego missed talking to Ben, because Ben was the only one besides his mother who would listen. The only one that didn’t make fun of him, the only one that saw Diego for who he was.

And now, Diego could finally talk to him again, after fifteen long, long years… and didn’t know what to say. He stared at Ben for a long time, stared at this new version of Ben that he’d never gotten the chance to know. The last time he had seen him, they were just kids; confused, lost kids that didn’t know what hell awaited them all.

Diego finally thought of something to say, opening his mouth and getting about halfway through before he couldn’t continue. “I wanted to thank you, for sa… sa…” _Really? _He internally berated himself, wondering why he ended up with a stupid stutter and everyone else was linguistically fine.__

__Ben smiled encouragingly at him, urging him to go on. Diego took a deep breath, picturing Grace in his mind and speaking slowly and staggeredly, but speaking nonetheless. “For sa… saving… me. Klaus told me.” He huffed out a breath, proud that he’d been able to say it but annoyed that it had taken so long._ _

__Ben didn’t seem annoyed, however; his smile was slowly spreading wider, his teeth peeking out when he spoke. “I’m surprised he did. The asshole loves to be the center of attention.”_ _

__Diego nodded in agreement, not wanting to risk talking again for fear of embarrassing himself. He gestured for Ben to follow him, pushing a curtain aside to reveal a window seat that he used to hide in when he was a kid. He and Ben were a little big for it now, but Diego didn’t care-this used to be his safe spot when he was feeling like shit, so here would have to do._ _

__The two sat in silence for a long time, listening to each other breathe. Diego found it odd, that Ben had to breathe at all, but decided not to dwell too much on specifics. He was just glad that Ben was here at all, sitting beside him, alive and warm and how was he warm? Diego, again, pretended not to care._ _

__Ben spoke first, as carefully as ever. “I’ve been thinking… I think you all have powers that maybe Reginald never knew about.”_ _

__That made sense. Diego waited for Ben to continue, still not speaking, but conveying his interest anyway. Ben always was the perceptive one; that hadn’t changed._ _

__“Y’know, cause Klaus never knew he could manifest the dead. So Reginald probably didn’t either, right? And he never knew everything about Vanya. I’d venture that the rest of us have something extra, too. Or maybe some of us. Maybe you-”_ _

__Stopping him there, Diego offered a wry half-smile. “You don’t have to say that to make me feel better. I’ve gotten over it. Mostly.”_ _

__Ben silently chuckled at that. “Mostly.” Eying Diego in amusement, he continued. “You always did try to be the best. I thought it was really funny.”_ _

__Diego frowned, taking that as more of an insult than Ben had probably intended it to be. “Why?”_ _

__“Because I thought you were the best anyway.”_ _

__For some reason, Diego blushed. “You weren’t so bad yourself,” he murmured, avoiding Ben’s now-direct gaze. His cheeks were hot and his mouth was dry, and something was in the air between the two. Before he was able to figure out what it was, however, they heard sounds from outside Klaus’ room._ _

__“If that silly bitch-” Diego started, getting up far too quickly to be casual and throwing the curtain back to reveal Allison, frowning back at Klaus’ door._ _

__“Is he okay?” Allison showed him her notepad, curiously looking over Diego's shoulder._ _

__“He's fine, he just-”_ _

__Allison's face paling with fear silenced him._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for Diego's chapter being so short, but don't worry--I've written a lot for him in the upcoming chapters:)
> 
> Let me know how y'all are liking this, and if there's anything specific you'd like to see!


	4. 00.03

Allison hadn't _really _seen Ben in over a decade. What happened at the theater… well, she almost believed it was an illusion. And the tentacles were at the forefront of her mind, anyway.__

__But she would recognize her brother anywhere, and there he sat--startled by her sudden appearance but _there. _She dodged around Diego, throwing her arms around Ben and squeezing like he was her little brother.___ _

____“How are you here?” She wrote, face wet with tears and still unable to believe that Ben was real._ _ _ _

____“Uh, Klaus,” Ben answered, hugging her back tentatively and smiling bashfully. “Seems he has some unexplored abilities. I'm one of them?”_ _ _ _

____Allison slowly stood up, pulling Ben with her. Her smile was fading, however, as she realized that this meant he was still dead. A physical ghost, manifested by Klaus._ _ _ _

____“Well that's new.”_ _ _ _

____Five's voice snapped Allison back to reality, and she stepped aside, straightening up and leaving the questions she had for Ben for another time._ _ _ _

____“How's the afterlife, Ben?” Five smiled thinly at their brother, polite as always._ _ _ _

____“I just follow Klaus around, so take a guess,” Ben rolled his eyes._ _ _ _

____“You just haunt him, you mean?”_ _ _ _

____Allison shot a sharp look in Five's direction, but as always, he seemed unbothered. Ben's gaze fell to the floor, and Diego began to get agitated. _It's like we’re all kids again, _Allison thought.___ _ _ _

______Allison remembered a time when Five wasn't so annoyingly conceited, when Klaus wasn't addicted to drugs and Diego wasn't always on edge. A time when things were simpler._ _ _ _ _ _

______Five was rolling his eyes at Diego now, jerking his chin towards Klaus’ room. “How is our dear Klaus?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Diego shrugged. “Worn out. Broken. He doesn't seem--he isn't the same. Something happened, he saw Da-” Diego paused, closing his eyes. “Da…”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“He saw Dave,” Ben finished, speaking up now. “But I didn't, so he thinks he's actually hallucinating this time. But I don't know, because-”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Five turned on his heel without another word, leaving the other three to follow him into Klaus’ room. When he headed straight for the bed, Ben apparated in front of him, stopping him._ _ _ _ _ _

______“He's only been asleep for an hour. He needs rest.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Five appraised their brother with considering eyes, looking as if he was actually going to agree. Instead, he blinked out of reality, appearing next to Klaus and shaking him awake before any of them could do anything._ _ _ _ _ _

______Sometimes, Allison really didn't like Five._ _ _ _ _ _

______Klaus stirred, flinching away when he saw them all standing above him. He did look worse than usual, Allison noticed, the circles under his eyes darker and the energy not as evident in his voice._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I'd love if you woke me up to give me breakfast in bed?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Five ignored him, getting straight to the point. “How are you making Ben visible? Can you do anything else?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Klaus stretched, yawning and taking his time answering. Allison smirked when she saw how irritated Five was becoming. Klaus had always been the best at pissing him off._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I dunno, man. I've seen Ben for fifteen years, he doesn't look any different to me. Less fuzzy, maybe.” Klaus grinned at Ben, who grinned back._ _ _ _ _ _

______“ _Okay, _” Five sighed, pushing his hair back and trying again. “But can you summon anyone? Can you-”___ _ _ _ _ _

________“No.” Klaus’ answer was clear and lacking any bravado, surprising Allison. Serious Klaus was not a look she was used to._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“You're sure?” Five was pushing to much, Allison could tell. Diego was bristled, ready for a fight, and Ben was looking as if he would rather be anywhere else._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Five kept going, however, never knowing when to stop. “Have you even tried to-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Klaus snapped. It's as if something inside him had been waiting to, for so long, and he'd finally had enough. Eyes dark with anger, Klaus stood up, shaky and stumbling but towering over Five nonetheless. Allison backed against the wall and, bracing for the storm._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Have I tried?” Klaus’ voice was deep and low, building in tempo and pitch as he went on. “Do you know anything about how hard I've tried? Do you _care? _” Five actually took a step back, his face calm but his body tense, ready to flee. Klaus would never hurt him, but he would yell at him, that much was clear. Diego and Ben stood aside, letting Klaus do his thing. It was high time.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“While you disappeared to God knows where, did you know that our dear father threw me in a crypt for my 'experiments’?” Five's face said he didn't. Klaus barked out a laugh, his fists clenched._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“While you took your sweet precious time getting coffee, did you know that your friends kidnapped me instead? Tortured me? To get to you?” Klaus paused for air, backing Five up another step. “Did you care? No,” he answered, matter-of-factly. “None of you did! Because I'm a useless junkie that probably overdosed in a ditch, right?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The four of them remained silent, but Five was still steadily matching Klaus’ glare with his own. A bad mistake. Klaus shoved Five, whirling around to face the other three. Allison had never seen Klaus so angry; he was visibly shaking, the rage clear in his eyes. All those years of pain, of being ignored, had finally caught up to her favorite brother._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“You all did! That's exactly what you thought!” Klaus’ laugh was humorless, was almost a sob. It pained Allison to see him so distraught. “Well guess what. While you all were merrily arguing about the apocalypse, I spent a year in Vietnam and watched the only person I ever loved get shot. And I came back, no one noticed, and I was _put on door duty. _” Allison looked down when Klaus’ eyes met hers; she was ashamed, knew she had this coming, but still didn't want to look her brother in the eye.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Because I'm useless. Or I was, until you all suddenly realized hey! Klaus’ power isn't actually shit! And you all decided you needed me then. After 30 years of looking down on me, now you respect me?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________When his question was met with four stares of shock and fear, Klaus laughed again. “No, you don't. You never will.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Klaus’ speech had shocked them all. More than that, the fact the he was suspended three feet off the ground shocked them into absolute silence. Klaus only then noticed, staring at the floor, his mouth falling open._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Um. What?” Klaus looked to Ben then, who in turn shrugged. Five was circling Klaus tentatively in curiosity, reaching a hand out but pausing before touching his leg._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Can I?” Five asked, receiving a 'go ahead’ gesture from Klaus. Five tugged on Klaus’ ankle, and Klaus instantly thudded to the floor, causing Five to dart out of the way. Diego was there in a flash, hoisting him onto the bed and then backing up immediately. They were all much more wary of Klaus now then they had ever been before._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Klaus was breathing heavily, staring at the ceiling, and Allison finally bit the bullet and slowly walked up to stand beside him, smiling when Klaus looked at her after a long moment._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I’m fine. I’m sorry. I just--I don’t know what happened. Please don’t ask.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Allison nodded, sitting beside him and shooing Five and Diego out of the room. She knew Diego hadn’t really done anything wrong, but he made the room significantly more tense and Five was just pissing everyone off at this point. They didn’t hesitate, leaving Allison to the quiet of Klaus and Ben. It was peaceful, if a bit awkward, and Allison appreciated the silence now more than ever._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Ben had never made a strong impression on Allison, although she now wondered if that was her own fault. She’d never been a good sister to him, acting snobby right up until the day he had died. She’d favored Luther and Klaus above all the rest, and made no effort to keep it a secret. Ben took up Klaus’ time, and Allison, as a child, took that as a sign of competition. Took it as a threat. In another world, a normal one, Allison maybe would have treated Vanya as more of an equal, due to them being the only girls. But Vanya was never around, and Allison had Klaus anyway, which she was more than happy with. Klaus let her braid his hair and paint his nails and played dress up with her whenever she asked, and so she was content with Klaus as her best friend and Luther as… something, she still didn’t know what. A boyfriend? A crush? They were kids; it wasn’t love. More so the only logical conclusion, considering everything. She went to school with him, trained with him, saw him every day. But they had never been a family so much as a dysfunctional band of boarding school kids. Or prisoners, depending how you looked at it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________But now, after all they’d been through, Allison vowed to be a better sister. A better person. She sat beside Klaus until he fell back to sleep, being careful not to wake him up when she stood. Motioning for Ben to follow her, she clicked his door shut again, sitting right outside because she knew her and Ben were the two most quiet people in the house right now._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________Did you know he could do that? ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________She showed the message to Ben, who shook his head and sighed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“He definitely didn’t know,” he mumbled, worriedly throwing glances at the door to his brother’s room. “I’m wondering how much he can actually do. How many things he never knew about because he went from mortally terrified to high as a kite overnight.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Allison nodded, remembering the first time Klaus came home high. Allison had been reading, way past lights out, and saw him creep past her door._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Klaus,” she’d whisper-yelled, and when her brother didn’t answer, followed him to his room. She’d only thought he smelled a little weird, hadn’t suspected a thing. To her defense, she’d never even seen weed, as they were barely thirteen and only permitted to leave the academy under Sir Reginald’s careful direction._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Klaus had been grinning, wider than usual, and spoke far too loudly for the hour. “Hey, Allie!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Allison remembered being off-put but Klaus’ sloppy smile, the way he swayed and didn’t quite focus on her. Almost as if he was drunk._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Uh, hey.” She’d been confused when Klaus reached for the rug next to his bed, thinking her brother was playing a joke on her. She’d never thought he’d pop up a floorboard and pull out a half-full bottle of vodka. One of their father’s bottles._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________She’d been mad, she remembered that clearly, more than anything else. And when Klaus took a swig with ease, as if he’d been practicing for a while, her anger had ebbed into fear._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Klaus, what-” she’d started to ask, pinching herself to see if this was all a horrible nightmare. It wasn’t._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Klaus danced over to her with the bottle, sloshing some of the liquid onto her slipper. She’d tried to wiggle away from his embrace, receiving a frown in turn._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Hey, I thought we were friends,” Klaus had giggled, but Allison had been crying._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Not anymore,” she’d whispered, and booked it back to her room without another word. She’d cried herself to sleep that night, hating Klaus and hating the world._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Klaus had received punishment for his actions--which she now knew was much more extreme than she’d first assumed--but he never stopped. And Allison never painted his nails or played fashion makeover with him again, becoming a total stranger to the one of the two people she’d been closest to for the first part of her life._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Ben had been right. It had happened overnight, only Allison knew that she might have been able to stop it, if she hadn’t been so scared herself. She had been weak, afraid, a child, and let her brother turn himself into what he was today._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________She didn’t hate Klaus or the world anymore, but herself instead._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Coming back to reality, Allison steeled her nerves, reaching out a hand a gently touching Ben’s knee. He wasn’t cold, which surprised her, but she ignored her own thoughts in favor of whispering, “We’ll help him. We’ll help Vanya. We’ll help each other.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Five is next! I really like writing Five, as I have found out, but I'm happy with this chapter for our girl Allison; let me know what y'all think!  
> (also tysm for all the kudos and bookmarks! feel free to chime off in the comments as well-good or bad, I'll take suggestions and criticism!)


	5. 00.05

Five waited until he and Diego were in the kitchen before yelling. He’d been shaking with rage as soon as they’d left Klaus’ room, but knew he’d only be reprimanded if he said anything before they were alone. So he’d waited, but his fuse was short and he was beyond angry.

“How many of you have extra powers? Is this why we couldn’t stop the apocalypse?” 

He was pacing, but he kept disappearing and reappearing all around the kitchen, almost forgetting that Diego was even there. He’d been alone for most of his life, so he really didn’t need an audience to ponder anything aloud.

“Reginald was sure that we could stop the apocalypse, from what I’ve been told, so did he know? And if he did, why didn’t he say anything? It would have saved so much time…”

Diego was wearily watching Five bounce around the kitchen, leaning against the counter and rubbing at his temples. Five still didn’t care, however, not talking to Diego anyway.

“I guess you were right, Delores. No matter how much planning I do, these idiots-”

“Whoa, hold on,” Diego interjected, shooting Delores a dirty look from where she sat on the counter. “We’re not idiots. And there’s nothing to suggest that anyone has new powers accept Klaus. So how about we simmer and think this through?”

Five’s laugh was dry, and he exchanged a knowing look with Delores. “Trust me, I’ve been ‘thinking this through’ for as long as you’ve been alive.”

Diego simply asked, “Then why didn’t you know about Vanya?”

Five hated how his silence sounded. Because that was just it; he hadn’t known about Vanya, hadn’t even considered her into any of the equations, even after they had found Harold. He knew that was a stupid mistake--one that he was paying for now--but that still didn’t explain Klaus. It explained nothing, really, or at the very least, nothing of any importance to them now. Too little, too late, as Delores always said.

“We need to figure out what Klaus is capable of, need to figure out how to fix Vanya and if any of you-”

“Or you.”

“-If any of _us _can do anything else. I’m positive that I can’t; are you?”__

__Diego’s shrug was infuriating. Of course he’d never even considered the possibility. The apocalypse had given Five time to think, while apparently in the last twenty years this lot had only thought about trivial little details. He wasn’t surprised._ _

__Not bothering to tell Diego where he was going, Five bounced to where Luther had fallen asleep in a chair next to where Vanya was sleeping. He’d insisted on watching over her, surprisingly seeming to only be doing so out of guilt. He blamed himself majoritively for what Vanya had done, and had taken a vow to be there to apologize profusely when she awoke. _If she awoke _, Five thought darkly.___ _

____Luther startled awake as Five coughed, skipping the pleasantries._ _ _ _

____“Any news?”_ _ _ _

____Luther shook his head, looking like hell. “Her breathing doesn’t even change, it’s like… it’s like she’s in a coma.”_ _ _ _

_____Great. _"I’ll take over. Get some rest, because you’re on the next three shifts. I have things to do, but right now… I’ll stay.”__ _ _ _ _

______Luther didn’t argue, shutting the door quietly behind him and leaving Five alone to his thoughts and his comatose sister. Five had always sympathized with Vanya, missing her the most when he’d gotten stuck in 2019. She’d always been kind to her siblings, despite everything, and while the others borderline despised Five, she’d smiled at him every day no matter what. He supposed it was because she had never been exposed to just how overbearing he could be, but he’d appreciated her nonetheless._ _ _ _ _ _

______And he knew she’d deeply regret everything she’d done. Vanya was that kind of person, the kind that blamed herself for things that were mostly out of her control and were mostly not her fault. Yes, she’d blown up the moon and killed Grace and Pogo and Harold Jenkins and nearly Allison, but she hadn’t wanted to. Five was convinced of that. She hadn’t meant to end the world._ _ _ _ _ _

______Five also knew that Klaus hadn’t meant to get addicted to drugs, but it still frustrated him that Klaus had been capable of so much all these years without ever getting close to knowing. Without ever _wanting _to know. They all use to make fun of him for having such a mediocre power compared to the others, but Five was coming to realize that maybe they’d had this ranking wrong all along.___ _ _ _ _ _

________Before, he’d wondered why Klaus had always been ranked higher than him but lower than Diego and Allison. Now, it was becoming increasingly evident that Sir Reginald Hargreeves had ranked them in increasing power, rather than decreasing. Meaning, Vanya was the most powerful. Five knew that made sense, now, and knew that Vanya was the reason none of the siblings had ever questioned the ranking before. They’d accepted that she was 7 because she was the weakest._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________With this new realization, Five understood that Vanya was most powerful, Ben slightly less so, himself being next, then Klaus and so on. Klaus was another outlier that had prevented him from accepting this theory, and with these new events, he’d come up with a new hypothesis. Particularly concerning Diego._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________If Diego was ranked lower than Allison, but higher than Luther, it meant that Sir Reginald had been aware of something Diego could do that Luther could not. In Five’s eyes, super aim and super strength were pretty equal on a power scale, suggesting that Diego could do something else. Diego apparently thought otherwise, but Five knew now to be on the lookout._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He also knew to be more diligent in watching Klaus. The new ranking also shed light on something else; volatility. Vanya had been a nuclear bomb as far as unpredictability went, and Ben’s fate had only been slightly less disastrous. Five had broken the timeline, in a way, so he accepted the responsibility for his own brash decisions. And that left Klaus, who was proving to be something of a new species as far as revealing new things about himself left and right. Five wasn’t worried so much about Allison, Diego, and Luther, but Klaus was proving to be of interest, more than Five had ever thought he would be. And so he would watch, and watch Diego, and watch Vanya, and meanwhile try to fix everything that he had helped break._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Five was so, so tired._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~tbc


	6. 00.01

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Loving the kudos and bookmarks still, you're all the sweetest tysm:)
> 
> This chapter is Luther's, and while I get that a lot of us (myself included) don't agree with pretty much anything Luther did, he does deserve some page-time in my fic. Let me know how you guys feel about this! I'm always open for suggestions:)

Luther had made a mistake. A series of mistakes, actually, ranging from anything as unimportant as being an asshole to as catastrophic as causing an apocalypse.

Because he had. Not Vanya, not the others, but him. He blamed himself, one hundred percent, for what had happened to Vanya, what she’d become and what she’d done. For thirty years, she had been fine, even writing a mildly successful book and making a career for herself in music. She’d done better for herself, completely alone, than Luther had, when he had thought everyone was on his side.

Luther could see now how stupid he’d been, how naive and gullible and _sheltered _he’d become, and although he’d been their father’s favorite, he felt like his greatest screw-up.__

__He alone had locked Vanya into a vault, the same vault she’d been confined to as a child, and treated her like a prisoner, rather than a sister. She’d come to apologize. To make things right. To amend._ _

__And Luther had gone and bossed everyone right into the end of the world._ _

__He’d decided he would try to make amends, as well. Take Vanya’s lead this time. Maybe he could learn something from the sister he’d shunned his entire life; the sister he’d put into a coma. It was worth a shot._ _

__The first thing Luther would do was watch over Vanya, making sure her IV bags were monitored and that she was comfortable. Yes, he was terrified of her. Yes, he was afraid that when she woke up, he’d be the first person to face her wrath. Yes, Luther wanted nothing more than to be back on the moon for the first time in weeks._ _

__But. She was his sister. She was _Vanya _, sweet, humble Vanya that used to cry when her brothers would fight with each other. They’d ignored her as a child, but she had never ignored them, fetching them things when they were sick or wishing them good luck on missions. Children were cruel, but Vanya had never been.___ _

____So Luther sat, waiting for Vanya to recover, for two days while Five had already gone and made theories and found out secrets of their childhood. Klaus had levitated. Diego had discovered another power. Ben was alive again, or something of the sort. Allison had kept the family calm, despite being mute. But Luther just sat, sometimes talking to Vanya, mostly not. He wasn’t doing anything, but someone needed to sit with her, and it was his job. He was One. He had done this to her._ _ _ _

____When he did talk, he apologized. He held Vanya’s cold, seemingly lifeless hand, and apologized for everything he could specifically remember doing to her. The apologies came in random bursts, sometimes accompanied with tears, but Luther made himself say them. She deserved to hear them._ _ _ _

____He didn’t know if she could hear him, but that didn’t matter. If she could, if there was even a chance, she needed to hear them. Before-_ _ _ _

____Luther stopped the thought in it's track, refusing to let the idea fully develop. Vanya would not die. She was too strong, too important, and once Five had filled the group in on the things their father had written, Luther realized that she was the true number one. He had the title, but Vanya had the power. The right._ _ _ _

____So he would wait. And he would be there to face her when she woke up, no matter the consequences. He’d beg for her forgiveness, but only Vanya could grant it to him._ _ _ _

____He hoped she would._ _ _ _


	7. 00.07

Vanya could feel everything.

She felt cold.

She felt vulnerable.

She felt guilty.

Vanya felt Luther’s hand in hers. She knew it was Luther, because only Luther had hands that large. 

She felt sad.

She felt Five’s authority, the air in which he spoke, vibrating around her. She felt a crowd.

She felt scared.

Vanya could not open her eyes. She was tired, physically drained, unable to do anything but breathe and feel.

Vanya could not hear.

She wanted to hear Luther, to hear Five, because she could tell that both had important things of their own to say. She struggled, knowing she was mostly conscious and on the cusp of waking up.

She could not hear.

Vanya wanted to cry. She wanted to scream and beg for forgiveness, for everything she had caused and all the damage she’d done. 

Vanya remembered.

She remembered the theater, remembered before, remembered throwing her power at Allison in a fit of rage. 

Vanya thought that she deserved death.

But she would not die. In a way, that was too easy. She deserved this comatose, half-awake state, because this way, she was forced to face what she’d done.

When she woke up-

If she woke up-

Vanya would face what she’d done. She’d fix it.

She had to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~tbc


	8. 00.06

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Just letting y'all know that this chapter is a bit longer because I won't be updating until Thursday night (midterms own my ass rn). Hope y'all enjoy-let me know which parts are your favorites so far!

Ben hadn’t always liked Allison. As a child, he had perceived her as shallow, competitive, jealous, and mean. He’d known she’d liked Klaus, and known that she had not liked him for liking Klaus as well. He guessed she’d never figured she could share. 

But now, sitting in the hall and feeling bad that she couldn’t speak, Ben decided he liked her. She seemed so different, so grown-up, and Ben liked this Allison. She only seemed to care about her sibling’s well-being, which they could agree on wholeheartedly.

Despite this, Ben couldn’t bare to sit by Klaus’ room any more. He was already wracked with guilt that his brother had overdosed in the first place, and he was still uncomfortable with being seen by anyone but Klaus. 

After saying goodbye to Allison, Ben figured he’d try his luck with eating. He hadn’t had food in fifteen years, and was actually beginning to wonder if the way he was feeling was as simple as ‘hungry’. So he made his way to the kitchen, envisioning the entrance and stumbling on a chair that was in the doorway for some reason.

Next thing he knew, two knives were whizzing by his head, making him yelp in panic. He knew they probably couldn’t hurt him. Probably. But he wasn’t sure, and he had always been jumpy.

Diego was staring in horror, jumping off the counter where he had fallen asleep and running to yank the knives out of the wall. He dropped them to the floor, putting a hand on each of Ben’s shoulders in an effort to calm him down.

“Shit, Ben, I’m so sorry! You scared the shit out of me, are you okay?”

Ben smiled shakily, trying to slow his breathing. He wasn’t quite sure anymore if he was more shaken by the knives or by Diego’s closeness to him. “I’m okay,” he managed, and Diego dropped his hands. Ben’s breathing slowed, answering his previous question.

Picking up the knives, Diego led the way to the fridge, where he gestured for Ben to pick something. Ben had no idea of what he wanted, so he shrugged and mumbled, “Grilled cheese?” Diego’s smile said that he agreed.

Before sitting down, Ben walked over to Five’s mannequin ‘Dolores’, and turned her around to face the wall. At Diego’s inquisitive look, he explained, “She’s creeped me out since he got here.”

Ben had forgotten how quiet of a person Diego really was. Throughout their childhood, Diego had always made it a habit to be the loudest, the bossiest--other than Luther--and the most confident. Ben knew that he did so to compensate for his stutter, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. He liked Diego like this, all smiles and shy, awkward demeanor, and Ben wondered if Diego ever knew that he’d once had a crush on him. 

No, that was ridiculous. Diego was Diego, and Ben had been fifteen the last time he remembered thinking about that kind of stuff at all. But it was hard not to, now that Diego wasn’t looking and was so, for lack of a better word, hot. Ben was trying his best not to look at his ass when Diego turned around, sliding a plated, burnt grilled cheese in front of Ben and setting an even more burnt one in front of himself. Catching Ben’s eye, Diego blushed.

“I never learned how to cook. Mom didn’t think it was nec... necessary to teach me; she’d just make me whatever I wanted.”

Ben giggled, taking a bite of the regretfully awful grilled cheese. For his first meal in over a decade, this was less than desirable, but he pretended to like it for Diego’s sake. The best part was that he could actually taste it at all, anyway.

“Thanks for cooking for me,” Ben mumbled around a mouthful of charcoaled cheese, grinning at Diego and making him laugh.

“My pleasure,” Diego smiled down at his own sandwich, seeming to be mulling something over. Ben didn’t push him, assuming that he was just getting his words ready. Diego had always done that, prepared to speak before actually doing so, and Ben knew rushing him made his stutter worse.

When Diego did speak, he didn’t look at Ben, almost seeming embarrassed. “So, uh, since Klaus is MIA, I was wondering if you’d want to stay in my room instead?” Diego scratched the back of his neck. “You don’t ha-have to, though. Up to you.”

Ben wasn’t looking at Diego, either, struggling to conceal a smile behind his hand. “I do have a room,” he started, practically feeling Diego’s shoulders slump. “But I don’t want to be alone. So if you don’t mind, yeah.”

Diego looked up, and Ben looked up, and Ben wondered how they were still this shy around each other fifteen years later. He hoped that would change.

 

It did change, sort of, sooner than Ben thought it would. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking around at all of Diego’s past possessions, when Diego started getting undressed. Ben tried not to let it distract him, but he wasn’t fooling anyone, least of all himself. Diego’s clothes were so tight as it was, it wasn’t as if Ben hadn’t seen how fit he was before now. But there was just something about the harness hanging from Diego’s waist, his chest bare and muscular, that made Ben stare.

“Why do you wear that?” 

The words slipped out before Ben could even process them, and Diego turned fully around. _Uh oh _, Ben thought, swallowing tightly around the lump in his throat.__

__“Makes me feel secure,” Diego muttered, going to unbutton his pants, but Ben kept talking because he was stupid? He didn’t know._ _

__“Secure of what? You’re freaking gorgeous.”_ _

__Diego froze, and Ben wished he was dead dead again, or at least could stop his entire face from flushing red in embarrassment. He never talked and then when he did, he said stupid shit like this. He missed being the smart one, because with Klaus, Ben never had to worry about saying the stupid thing._ _

__Diego didn’t seem to know what to say, chewing at his lip and waiting for Ben to say something instead. Which was a mistake, because Ben’s brain wasn’t functioning correctly and he had no filter at the moment, apparently._ _

__“It makes you look like, obnoxiously straight though.”_ _

__At that, Diego smirked. “Really now?” he chuckled, continuing to unbuckle the harness. “Huh.”_ _

__Ben couldn’t decide if Diego was upset about that or simply surprised, but he forced himself to look at his hands as the other man finished changing. He only looked up when he felt the bed move beside him, turning to see Diego fighting a smile._ _

__“You think I’m hot,” he laughed softly, and Ben only blushed harder._ _

__“Shut up, you knew that.”_ _

__“Maybe so,” Diego conceded, nudging Ben with his shoulder. “But it feels more real coming from you.”_ _

__“I’m literally a ghost,” Ben deadpanned, unable to look at Diego at all. He felt him shrug, a laugh still in his voice._ _

__“Doesn’t matter to me.”_ _

__Ben closed his eyes, hating how ashamed he was. Diego didn’t-_ _

__He felt Diego’s fingers on his chin, and only opened his eyes to see what he was doing. And Diego, gorgeous, pajama-clad Diego, was looking at Ben’s lips, whispering when he spoke._ _

__“You can still feel things, right?”_ _

__Ben nodded, his head spinning, and realized when Diego kissed him that this was his first kiss. He considered it a good one, since he’d been in love with Diego since they were kids and the man wasn’t at all bad at it. Ben was starting to wonder how Diego could kiss so well when he was finally forced to lurch back, so out of breath that he felt dangerously dizzy._ _

__“You-” he gasped, vision blurry from lack of oxygen. “Can really. Do that. For a really. Long time.”_ _

__From what he could see, Diego was frowning, seeming perfectly calm, while Ben was struggling to force air into his lungs at a regular pace again._ _

__“I… I didn’t know I could.” Diego’s expression was confused, and he waited for Ben to breathe normally again before continuing. “Come here, I’m going to try something.”_ _

__Ben followed him into the bathroom, having no idea what was happening. Diego turned the tap of the bathtub on, putting the stopper in and waiting for it to fill up about a foot. And then, without saying anything, dunked his head in._ _

__Ben was surprised, but waited for Diego to reemerge. And waited._ _

__And waited._ _

__After what seemed like ten minutes had gone by, Diego stood up, toweling off his hair and seeming spooked. Ben watched him carefully, looking for signs of how he had struggled to breathe earlier. Nothing. Without a second thought, he placed a hand against Diego’s chest, feeling his heartbeat. Perfectly normal. After ten minutes underwater._ _

__Diego started laughing, slowly at first and growing more hysterical. Ben caught him as he stumbled forward, tears running down his cheeks from the exertion._ _

__“Five was right,” was all Diego offered in explanation._ _


	9. 00.04

Klaus dreamed of Dave. More specifically, he relived specific moments from Vietnam through his subconscious, experiencing it all over again. Luckily for him, it was the good parts. The happy parts.

The Dave parts.

No sooner had he shut his eyes than he was back in that bar, getting drunk and dancing and finally being in his element after days of figuring out how to use a gun and how to pretend he was supposed to be there. He’d met Dave on the bus, had noticed him, but he didn’t expect to run into him again at the bar. 

He may not have expected it, but he was delightfully pleased when he did. Dave was fun, Dave was friendly, Dave danced with him and did shots with him and kissed him against a wall in the back of the bar. He’d kissed Klaus until Klaus ran outside, throwing up, much to his dismay. Dave had followed. Dave had pushed his hair back and rubbed his back and was nice to him, walking him back to the bunkers and letting Klaus sleep in his bed. 

And when Klaus woke up screaming, hearing the echoes of all the victims of this horrible, horrible war, Dave was there, holding his rocking form and whispering to him that he was okay. Dave didn’t protest when Klaus lit up, only sat beside him in the cold outside and warmed Klaus with his presence.

That was Dave; warm, kind, supportive. Loving. Beautifully, wonderfully loving, making Klaus feel safe for the first time in his life. Dave made him feel safe in the middle of a war, for Christsake, and Klaus loved him. Loved him completely and with everything he had, so much so that he forgot about going home for a whole year. He forgot about everything but Dave. Maybe that was selfish, in a way, for Klaus to leave everything and everyone behind for a man that he'd just met. Then again, it was high time Klaus found real happiness.

Klaus dreamed of the time that Dave asked him if he heard voices, and Klaus had started crying, thinking that this was it. Dave would scoff and deem him crazy, do the same things everyone in his life ever had. But Dave hadn’t, of course he hadn’t, telling Klaus that he understood and that he was there for him. And Klaus believed him, gave him every ounce of trust and love that he was capable of, and once told Dave that he would get them home and marry Dave by the sea.

Dave was Klaus’ world, even when Klaus was living in a world that wasn’t his own. 

The day that they were permitted to do whatever they pleased, and Dave had grabbed a blanket and pulled Klaus to a meadow that was ridiculously peaceful, given their current location. They talked about everything, about what they would do when they went home and how fucked up the world was. They stayed in each other’s arms, laying in the sun and doing nothing for the first time in a long time and the last time in even longer. And Klaus knew that day that he would never love someone like he loved Dave. Klaus saw Dave as the only thing whatever God out there had deemed him worthy of, and Klaus was unashamedly happy with that. After all the shit he’d been through, Dave was his, and he was Dave’s.

Once, Dave has asked Klaus if he loved him. Klaus had laughed, thinking Dave was kidding, but upon seeing the man’s face, smiled softly. 

“Yes. For as long as I’m alive and longer, yes.”

 

Klaus awoke to Allison's insistent nudges, groaning and trying to roll away. But he couldn't help but notice the wetness of his face, the stinging of his eyes, and knew he'd been crying in his sleep. 

_What's wrong? _Allison's notepad read, and she underlined it again for emphasis. Klaus smiled sadly, closing his eyes.__

__“Just a dream.”_ _

__He opened his eyes to see Allison's writing again. _Dave? _He nodded, feeling Allison squeeze his hand in her own. She wrote again; _Can you talk about him? _______

______“I can,” Klaus answered, but sighed in defeat. “But I don't see the use. He's gone, it's over, say la vie.” Despite his nonchalant words, his voice betrayed him, wobbling on the word 'over’. When Allison raised an eyebrow at him, he said, “Can you distract me? I'm so tired of talking, Allie.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Allison pursed her lips, accepting this for the time being. She held up a finger, darting out the door and coming back a moment later with three tiny bottles. Nail polish._ _ _ _ _ _

______Klaus missed the times that he and Allison would do things like that, despite Reginald getting pissed off, without fail, every time. In the beginning, their father would punish them, making Allison throw away the nail polish or makeup that she'd chosen to adorn Klaus with, and making Klaus scrub it off with scalding water. Eventually, though, it was clear that even without Allison's assistance, Klaus would do whatever he wanted anyway. He figured Reginald had finally decided that people couldn't really see the eyeliner past the masks,._ _ _ _ _ _

______Coming back to the present, Klaus looked at the colors. “Gold,” he smiled, letting Allison paint his nails for the first time since they were kids. Neither of them spoke, and it was the most mundane, peaceful thing Klaus had done in as long as he could remember._ _ _ _ _ _

______It felt good to act like a kid again._ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! I hope you guys enjoyed Ben's chapter--I was a little iffy on that one but I think I like where it's heading (and I hope you guys do too!) Expect many updates over this spring break--there's a lot in store for these poor fools.


	10. 00.02

_Five was right. Five was right. Five was right. ___

__Diego had slipped into a sort of shock after the bathtub experiment, leaving Ben to freak out in a flurry around him. But he was numb, scared, and didn't know why. He didn't care, really, watching Ben pace around the room, letting the rhythmic motion calm him. He couldn't have spoken even if he'd wanted to, letting Ben do the talking when Five did inevitably show up._ _

__“He was under the water for _ten minutes?” _For some reason, Five looked exhausted, studying Diego out of the corner of his eye. Diego's eyes had glazed over minutes ago, and he let that soothe him, too. He let the sound of Ben and Five arguing fade away, singing a song in his head and vaguely wondering what was wrong with him.___ _

____He hadn't noticed Five's absence until he came back, Grace in tow, who was now unfrozen. That snapped Diego out of it very quickly, as Five had known it would._ _ _ _

____“How is sh-she here?” Diego asked, looking only at his mother, who smiled as obliviously as ever._ _ _ _

____“I did some energy transferring, or something of the like. Pogo is here too, and we think we know what happened.”_ _ _ _

_____What happened, _Diego echoed in his head, smiling back at Grace. His mother sat beside him, hardly jostling the bed, and held his hand as Pogo shined a light in his eyes. Diego completely ignored Pogo, ignored Ben and Five and the odd, seemingly random things Pogo was doing. Pogo was patient, however, whispering something in Grace’s ear.__ _ _ _ _

______“Diego, sweetie, can you follow Pogo’s finger with your eyes?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Diego obliged, getting distracted by everything. He didn’t want to disappoint Grace, however, and struggled to follow Pogo’s movements. It was futile, and he began to shiver, his chest tight. Even Grace looked worried now._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I think he’s in shock,” Five whispered to Pogo, loud enough that Diego could hear it. Diego shook his head rapidly, standing up abruptly and instantly collapsing to the ground. He heard Ben yell, felt himself be lifted onto the bed, but his mind was elsewhere._ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

______Diego was in a small glass room, staring at his father through the wall. He was cold, in only his pajama pants, woken in the middle of the night for one of his father’s experiments. For him, they usually only consisted of hitting moving targets and throwing knives with his eyes closed. Easy enough, even for an eight-year-old. He’d never been in this room before, never been woken up in the dead of night with no explanation whatsoever. He was tired; he just wanted to go back to sleep. He just wanted to be a regular kid._ _ _ _ _ _

______Sir Reginald’s face was characteristically blank, studying Diego as if he were a lab rat and not his adopted son. Nodding to someone Diego couldn’t see, Sir Reginald left the room, only Diego still had the sense that he was being watched._ _ _ _ _ _

______And then the water came._ _ _ _ _ _

______It poured into the room from an unknown source, slowly at first but growing faster by the minute. Diego wasn’t really worried, able to swim and mostly upset that it seemed that he was being punished for something he didn’t remember doing. The water was cold, splashing him as the room filled, and between the cold and the general unknown, Diego was becoming more scared by the second. He then realized that the room had no openings, was more of a glorified fish-tank than anything, and started to scream. He hit the walls, kicked them, feeling no budge and receiving no response. It seemed that his father had left him here to die._ _ _ _ _ _

______The water was to his chest now, and he was floating, trying to remain calm so as not to sink himself. It was no use, however, as he and the water soon reached the ceiling. Taking a deep breath, Diego was submerged, wondering if after everything, this was how he would die._ _ _ _ _ _

______Diego didn’t die. He held his breath, waiting for someone to come, something to happen. Nothing did for a long, long while. When the water began to recede, Sir Reginald stepped back into the room, motioning for someone to go to Diego._ _ _ _ _ _

______His mother, towel in hand, slid part of the glass back and caught her son as he ran into her arms, crying and stuttering so bad that he wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or his own body. Grace shushed him, drying him off, and looked back to Sir Reginald._ _ _ _ _ _

______“How long?” the man snapped, ignoring Diego completely._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Half an hour, sir.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Diego wasn’t listening, still crying and wondering why his father hated him, hated them all. His mother guided him back to his room, giving him “something to help him sleep” and a kiss on the forehead._ _ _ _ _ _

______Diego didn’t remember the fishtank after that._ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

______Voices from now snapped him back to reality, particularly Ben and Five’s voices, whisper-yelling at each other and failing badly at being quiet._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Both of you, enough. He’s awake.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Ben was the first person Diego saw when he opened his eyes, and he hated how scared he looked. Five also looked surprisingly concerned, but his concern was replaced very quickly with anger, directed at Pogo. Five pulled him into the hall, leaving Diego to Ben and Grace._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Diego, what happened?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Shrugging, he sat up, receiving alarmed looks from the two. “I don’t know. I’m fine now, though. I remembered what happened, so that’s nice.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Ben frowned, prompting him to go on, but Diego didn’t like Five’s secrets and followed the boy into the hall, where he was chewing Pogo out for something._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Hey, I remembered how the old man made me forget my second power. You were right. Are you happy now?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“No,” Five threw over his shoulder, going back to talking to Pogo. “I need that book,” Five was insisting, rolling his eyes as Diego walked up beside them._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Master Five, I don’t know where the book is. Klaus lost it, remember?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Five spun around, nearly slamming into Diego, and took off into the direction of their brother’s room. Diego tossed a knife to stop him, only Five was back in his face before the blade had hit the wall._ _ _ _ _ _

______“ _Do not ever _throw another one of those at me. Clear?”___ _ _ _ _ _

________Diego flinched at the venom in his brother’s voice. “Fine. But leave Klaus alone, alright? Whatever it is you’re looking for is probably-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Five’s eyes lit up, and he was gone once again. Both Diego and Pogo sighed, having no idea where Five had gone and no way to find out._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________If Sir Reginald had ranked them in terms of annoyance, Five would have been the frontrunner._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	11. 00.05

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so glad this chapter ended up being one of the longest in the fic, because you guys have been amazing with all the comments and kudos lately! Thank you so much for the support, and I hope you guys continue to enjoy it! Now; on to our dear Five's melodrama~

It had been bothering Five how Harold Jenkins had known about the academy at all, or how Vanya might have had powers. His first assumption had been that her book had exposed them all, but she hadn’t ever considered having powers until Harold had put the idea in her head.

So Five went to Harold’s house, not caring about disrupting this particular timeline because it didn’t really exist, as well as being frozen. He searched Harold’s house top to bottom, only stumbling upon the attic by complete chance. His eye level wasn’t high enough to notice it right away, and he spent an hour uselessly rummaging through nothing when the book was the first thing he found in the attic. Well, the second, after the body.

Five jumped back to the house, hiding in Reginald’s office since he knew no one would look for him there. He sat, reading, for hours, deciphering the writing as well as the meaning behind the passages. A few stood out to him, and he knew he’d need to show the others eventually, but Five was only human and paid particular interest to his designated section.

~  
"Showing increasing signs of developing a superiority complex, possibly due to advanced intelligence for age."

"Disappeared several days ago. No great loss."  
~

No great loss? That stung even Five’s cold, indifferent heart. He shook it off, closing the book and jumping to the master bedroom, where they had set up camp for Vanya. Luther only startled a little this time, glaring at Five before eyeing the book in his hands. 

“Whatcha reading?”

Five ignored him, checking Vanya’s vitals. No change. “We need to have a family meeting. You’re not going to like what I have to say, but we need everything out in the open and everyone here.” Shooting another glance at Vanya, Five added, “All of us. In here.”

 

The family trickled in slowly, shooting inquisitive glances at Five, who had set up a circle of chairs that sat he and Vanya at the head (and Delores in the chair closest to him). He sat on the end of Vanya’s bed, legs crossed, and studied his siblings as they sat. Luther, arms crossed, smiling at Allison when she walked in, Klaus leaning heavily on her arm. Diego and Ben followed suit, and Five found it odd that Ben was following Diego instead of Klaus. He shrugged it off. Unimportant.

Once Pogo had closed the doors behind him and Grace, Five began to speak, holding their father’s journal delicately in his lap.

“I read Reginald’s journal,” Five started, already seeing the alarm in half the faces. “It’s not great. My theories were confirmed, and more than that, there’s a lot we didn’t know. Nothing apocalyptic, but interesting and relevant, nonetheless.”

Ben actually raised his hand, which Five would have laughed at, once upon a time. “What?”

“What were your theories?”

A good question. Five allowed him a smile, preparing for outrage from a particular pair of the seven. “The rankings. They’re backwards.”

A beat of silence, and then Diego, going from zero to a hundred in less than a second. Of course. 

“Wait, so, Vanya-?”

Five nodded, giving Diego an impatient look. “Yes. Vanya is one, meaning Ben is two, I’m three, Klaus is four still, and-”

“I’m seven?” Luther sounded equal parts upset and astounded. Diego was pouting, only cheering up slightly when Ben whispered something in his ear. Five didn’t have the time--no, the patience--for this.

“That was one of my theories. The other is about our actual abilities, and rather we all know everything we can do. As I suspected, there are a few of us already-” looks at both Klaus and Diego, “-that have proven this true. So,” Five stood up, pulling the rolling whiteboard he’d wheeled into the bedroom to where it faced everyone. “I’m keeping track.”

He let them take in his chart, room enough under everyone’s name in case things came up. 

_Luther: Super strength  
Diego: Perfect aim; can hold breath indefinitely  
Allison: Able to alter the truth  
Klaus: Can see/speak to the dead/channel their abilities/levitate  
Five: Time travel/alter energy/teleport  
Ben: Summon monsters at will  
Vanya: Turns sound into energy/can direct sound waves into physical forms ___

__“Master Klaus can levitate?”_ _

__Everyone looked to Pogo--that of whom Five had assumed knew all of this already--who was studying the board as if learning these things for the first time._ _

__“Yes. Not well, but he got pissed off earlier and just floated.”_ _

__Everyone looked to Klaus, who grinned and threw up a peace sign with his ‘Goodbye’ hand. “I’m a bag full of tricks, it seems.”_ _

__Five still wasn’t pleased with Klaus, but decided to let it go for the betterment of the whole. “Diego also doesn’t need to breathe, but you knew that, right Pogo?”_ _

__Pogo nodded, seeming uncomfortable. “I did. I apologize for not saying something before now, but there have always been more important things. Sir Reginald never found that ability particularly... useful.”_ _

__“Because it’s not,” Diego snapped, apparently still caught up in the rankings. Five opened the book, letting him sit and stew, and looked to Luther._ _

__“Do you want me to start with you? You’ve always been in charge, and Vanya isn’t awake to call the shots.”_ _

__Luther shrugged, waving for Five to proceed after a moment. As Five read, Luther sank farther and farther into his seat, as if he wanted to disappear._ _

__~  
“Appreciably enhanced physical strength and resilience. Excels at everything he tries, particularly aviation and marksmanship—and knows it."_ _

__"Dedication and loyalty of no question. Ruthless leadership abilities. My favorite."_ _

__“The most recent mission was a complete failure, as I feared it would be. No choice but the serum; One will not be please, and misleading him may be the only choice. I genuinely do regret it.”  
~_ _

__“I resign,” was all Luther said, and while Five knew he wasn’t joking, Klaus laughed hard at his words._ _

__“We love you, big guy, but who else has ‘ruthless leadership abilities’?”_ _

__Allison waved her hand, holding up her notepad, which showed a single number._ _

__5._ _

__Everyone’s stares turned to him, to which he shrugged at. “I suppose that’s true. All in favor of having me run the group?”_ _

__He’d expected more than three hands raised, but he supposed that would do. It had been Klaus and Diego who hadn’t raised their hands, anyway._ _

__“Okay. Moving on; Diego’s next in the journal. Ready?”_ _

__Diego’s face paled, but he nodded anyway._ _

__~  
“Birth must have been traumatic in some way, as a speech impediment has made itself known. Grace is working with him to control it, as well as work on his social skills. Very timid; hopefully will grow out of it.”_ _

__“An insolent brat. Ability to hold breath indefinitely is of dubious if any use. Not bad with a knife—as illustrated by the amount of gashes in the Caravaggio. Predictably reckless."_ _

__“Fiery temper; petty envy of One. I am not fond of this child.”  
~_ _

__Diego didn’t look up, ignoring Ben and Allison when they each tried to comfort him. Five hadn’t wanted to read those passages; there wasn’t one thing good that the Monocle had said of Diego, and Five knew it hurt Diego, even coming from their late, ever-absent father._ _

__Their mother, however, was more perceptive than any of them had given her credit for, and stood behind Diego, hands rubbing his shoulders soothingly. Five trusted her to console him, and looked to Allison, who simply nodded._ _

__~  
“Insufferable, narcissistic creature, but extremely useful. Prevaricates with appalling ease.”_ _

__“Edit to entry one: has been displaying more of an affinity to alter the truth altogether. Deadly voice.”_ _

__“The first to leave the Academy; fame, of course, would be the thing to ruin her. A significant disappointment.”  
~_ _

__Allison didn’t appear to be upset in any way, holding her chin up and nodding once at Five when he was finished. She kept her face blank, her head high, and Five respected that._ _

__Klaus was next, and he started slowly shaking his head when Five began to read. Five looked up, waiting for Klaus to say something._ _

__“How bad is it?” he asked, face scrunched up. Five smiled tightly, understanding, to an extent. Klaus knew what was coming, but he was still afraid. “Not as bad as Diego’s, I don’t think.” That seemed to be enough for Klaus, who buried his head in his knees and braced himself._ _

__~  
“Four has both an interesting personality and set of abilities. Refuses authority completely, is not affected by most punishments that I’ve given thus far. Will continue to observe carefully.”_ _

__"Development of psychic abilities stunted by fretful, morbid temperament. Inexplicable resemblance to an Ingmar Bergman extra."_ _

__“Has taken to inebriation as a defense against his abilities. May never know his full potential, due to his stubborn nature and his weak fear. My greatest disappointment.”  
~_ _

__“What’s an ‘Ingmar Bergman extra’?”_ _

__Five actually laughed, surprising everyone. That was what Klaus had taken from that? Five had a certain respect for that, as well._ _

__“I have no idea. Here’s mine.”_ _

__~  
"Showing increasing signs of developing a superiority complex, possibly due to advanced intelligence for age."_ _

__"Disappeared several days ago. No great loss."  
~_ _

__“Fuck,” Diego muttered, shooting Five a sympathetic look. Five was over it, however, turning to his brother._ _

__“Ben, your turn.”_ _

__Ben looked the most uncomfortable, as always, biting his lip and scooting closer to Diego as Five began to read. There were only two passages for Ben, as well._ _

__~  
"Gruesome but fascinating. Easily manipulated due to enthusiastic, if naïve nature. Must learn to suppress my nausea in order to study further."_ _

__“The fault of Six’s death cannot be accurately placed in the hands of one person, although I am disappointed to not have motivated him to further explore his abilities.”  
~_ _

__Five had felt Ben recoil at the first two words, and again at ‘nausea’. Klaus patted his back, whispering something about how Ben was the best, and Diego squeezed his hand, almost too briefly for Five to catch._ _

__“Last is Vanya,” he announced, sighing before continuing. “She has the most.”_ _

__The room waited on bated breath, and Five spoke softly, in case Vanya was listening._ _

__~  
“Seven has the worst temper of them all, reacting to training badly and causing injury to several nannies for mundane reasons. Highly unpredictable.”_ _

__“Quickly becoming the most powerful, even without consistent training. Not sure of the range of abilities, although sound seems to play a part.”_ _

__“Was forced to use Three’s abilities to sedate her. Too volatile to work with any further; a loss, truly, at would could have been.”_ _

__"After memory-wipe; no discernible talents. Some enthusiasm for music, but mediocre skill—can hardly even hobble through a Paganini caprice. Utterly useless."  
~_ _

__The room fell into silence, everyone sharing in the guilt of what had happened to Vanya. None of them had even tried to include her, and the apocalypse was more their fault than hers, in a lot of ways._ _

__Every single one of them was thinking this when Five closed the book._ _


	12. 00.03 & 00.01

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first (and possibly only) duo chapter of this fic! I'm trying to set up a sort of redemption arc for our dear space boy, but we'll see how it goes.

Despite what Five had said being vitally important, part of Allison hated him for saying it all. He’d completely crushed half the family with that book, and she glared at him the entire way out the door. He deserved to know what he’d done. Even if he didn't care as much as she would have liked.

Waving for Klaus to go ahead, Allison fell back into step with Diego and Ben, who were both hit the hardest with that godforsaken journal. She wished so hard that she could speak, wished that she could even whisper, but settled for writing as quickly as she could on her notepad and showing it to her brothers.

'Dad was a liar. Neither of you are disappointments. None of us are.'

Ben smiled at her weakly, appreciating the sentiment, but Diego only grunted, wrapped up in his own thoughts. Allison hoped that Ben could console Diego, because she had been preparing herself for what was about to come next for the last hour.

Waving to her brothers, she retraced her steps to Vanya’s hospital-esque room, knowing that Luther would still be there. Five was also there, and Allison jerked her thumb towards the door, telling him to beat it. He obliged, for his own sake.

Luther wouldn’t look at Allison, watching Vanya instead with sad, defeated eyes. Allison wrote everything she had to say on multiple pages, almost like the cue cards she used to read at press conferences, and tapped Luther’s shoulder when she was done.

'I know you’re sorry. But you messed up bad, and mistakes have consequences.'

Luther lowered his eyes, and Allison flipped the page.

'You lose things because of them. I lost my voice. You’ve lost me.'

Luther looked as if he were about to cry, but Allison trucked on, refusing to let him make her feel guilty. She already felt guilty enough to last forever.

'I don’t hate you. I forgive you. But things are different now. I’m sorry.'

She pulled the necklace out of her pocket, closing Luther’s hands around it and smiling sadly at him when he finally looked up.

“I am sorry, Allison. For everything.”

Allison mouthed _I know _, and patted Luther’s shoulder once before closing the door behind her.__

__Some things had to end, and if she was being honest with herself, she could never fully forgive Luther. Her father had been right; she was insufferable._ _

__

__When Allison left him, Luther turned to Vanya, holding his sister's hand and speaking not unlike someone who was giving a Catholic confession. He was sort of embarrassed, but he figured that was ten times better than being alone with his thoughts. Talking to Vanya was cathartic, if utterly useless in the end._ _

__“You gotta wake up soon, okay, Vanya? I need to make things right, and I need to start with you. I know it's too late, sort of, but I'm going to make it right with all of you if it kills me.”_ _

__Vanya's steady breathing calmed the turmoil of Luther's mind, and he continued, because it was the only thing he could do at the moment. The more he talked, the less likely he was to cry._ _

__“I never saw Diego or Allison as family, and that's a problem, too. But I always saw you as a sister, Vanya. It's hard to believe, trust me I know, but I feel like you were always the little sister. I wanted to protect you, and then, when I couldn't, wanted to protect everyone from you. And that was so stupid of me, apocalyptically stupid, and I just need help with fixing that.”_ _

__Luther coughed, distracting himself from the tears that had made themselves present anyway. He felt weak, but maybe, this time, for the first time, that was a good thing._ _

__“But first we need you to wake up.”_ _


	13. 00.07

An excerpt from _Extra Ordinary; My Life as Number Seven _, by Vanya Hargreeves.__

___Many people would assume that I'd hate my siblings for what my childhood was. While they may be right that my childhood was horrible, they'd be wrong to assume my siblings were the sole cause._ _ _

___I remember equally as many positive things about my siblings as I do negative. In this chapter, I will list a few. They were not bad people; they were children raised in the same toxic environment as me._ _ _

___To begin, Number One. Luther. Luther has many flaws, but I cannot say that my first brother did not care. He did everything a child could do to protect his team--his family--and that must be acknowledged. It was never Luther's fault that I wasn't part of the team; it was circumstance. I do not blame him for only focusing on the way in which he led the others into battle. He was deemed leader, and lead he did. His remorse for what happened to Ben was as clear as day; his guilt stayed with him for as long as I was there to see it._ _ _

___Number Two. Diego. Diego was a complicated child, a child that was scared and jealous and human. His power did not reach the magnitude of some of the others, and he grew resentful because of that. I understand that resentment; I understand what it's like to feel weak. Useless. I believe that I related to Diego most because of that, and whether he ever knew it or not, I did feel for him. I also saw how much he, too, cared, about Mom and Ben and Klaus especially, and while Diego would never admit to caring that much, I can testify that he did._ _ _

___My only sister, Number Three. Allison. I remember being jealous of Allison; the way she seemed to get everything she wanted, the way that she was so pretty and I was so ordinary, physically as well as mentally. Allison was one of the smarter of us, cunning, and while she mostly only used that to her benefit, I remember when she would use her power to convince Sir Reginald to give us twenty more minutes of play time, or something of the like. We all benefited, and it warms my heart whenever I remember how she used to paint Klaus’ nails._ _ _

___Speaking of Klaus; Number Four. My brother was an eccentric child and a sneaky teen, his power the worst of them all, in my opinion. Father would punish him by taking him away for days, and when Klaus would return, he'd never be the same. He would seem haunted, for lack of a better descriptor. The drugs were an unfortunate introduction to Klaus’ life, but to him, a necessary one; Klaus would sometimes be so beside himself that he would become a danger on missions, and for that alone, Sir Reginald did not stop him._ _ _

___My next two brothers make me sad when I remember them, so forgive me for perhaps being kinder in my view of these two. I cannot bring myself to speak very ill of the dead._ _ _

___Number Five. If we ever did call Five something else, I do not remember. Five was always stubborn, always ready to go and believing, truly, that he knew what was best. My most confident sibling, dear Five. I used to leave food out and the lights on, when Five first disappeared, because I wished so much that he would come home but was afraid he'd get scared if he came back. I should have known he was not coming home._ _ _

___Ben was Number Six. I'd like to think Ben was my nicest sibling, but the truth is, he was just the quietest. Between the two of us, I cannot recall if Ben or I spoke more in the long run. Ben was always reading, or whispering to Klaus or Diego, and it makes me genuinely bitter that Ben hated to use his power and died because of it. He never wanted it, and yet, he was in the Umbrella Academy. Thus, he had no choice._ _ _

___Wherever they are now, I hope they are all happy. Or, happier. They don't deserve misery; we all got plenty of that for our first sixteen years of life. I truly hope they know that I do not hate them. ____ _


	14. 00.02

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are some mentions of self destructive behavior in this one so tread cautiously!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're in the final stretch guys!! I've decided that there will officially be a part two to this fic, so I hope you guys continue to enjoy part one:)

Diego shouldn't have been as upset as he was about being the second weakest person in his family. He'd always wondered about why he was two but had such a lame power, so this technically made perfect sense. And he was ranked higher than Luther, so there was that.

But mostly, he was mad because he was thirty years old and still cared what their father had thought of him. The journal had ripped a wound through Diego's heart, and he barely heard Ben whispering, “We swapped places, isn't that funny?” or his mother telling him that he had always been special in her eyes. The words of the late Reginald Hargreeves spiraled around Diego's mind, hurting more every time. 

_Birth must have been traumatic in some way, as a speech impediment has made itself known. ___

__What had happened to him when he was born? Who was his birth mother? Why did he end up like this? Why did she give him up at all? Was it because he was a disappointment to her as well, even as an infant?_ _

___An insolent brat. Predictably reckless. ____ _

____Had he been that bad as a child? Any worse than the others? So much so to be called an insolent brat? What had he _done? _____ _ _

_______Fiery temper… petty… I am not fond of this child. ____ _ _ _ _ _

________Diego did have a temper. Diego was petty. But was he so awful that Reginald hadn't even considered him useful?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Had the only father he'd ever known regretted choosing him?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Diego hated himself. Always had, in a way, but masked that self-loathing by doing everything he could to be the person he'd wanted to be. The person that people wouldn't describe as useless or insolent or a disappointment._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Diego had trained, packing on muscle in order to feel more confident. He'd enrolled into the police academy, to help people, to feel useful and wanted. And when that failed, he became a vigilante, and he was good. He helped people. He was a hero._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Letting people get close to him was another story altogether. Diego would have rather had meaningless relationships or nothing at all, if it meant that he didn't have to show vulnerability. And so he did, using people and moving on, anonymous, safe._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Until Eudora. She'd broken through all the walls he had built up, all by being kind and genuine. She had cared about him, liked him for him, and Diego had trusted Eudora._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________And now, Ben. Ben, who'd been dead for half of Diego's life, was breaking through all his walls again, only this time, Diego's defenses were weaker. He'd lost Patch. Lost mom twice. Lost Vanya. Lost everything. So he wasn't ready for Ben, wasn't prepared, and that made him panic._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The only thing was, Ben knew Diego in a way that no one else did. They'd grown up together, watched each other change as the years went on, and still, here Ben was. At that particular moment, locking Diego's door and pushing him down on the bed, kneeling down to untie his shoes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“What are you doing?” Diego asked, in a bit of a monotone. Ben didn't look up, tugging off one shoe and then the other._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“You need to sleep. You're so tense right now, I'm afraid you'll pop a vein.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Diego only then noticed the tautness of his shoulders, the clench of his jaw, and tried to force himself to relax. He rolled his shoulders, popped his neck, but it was futile. He stopped, letting Ben fight with his harness. Finally figuring it out, Diego felt the weight leave his shoulders, and raised his arms as Ben pulled his shirt over his head. Despite having kissed him earlier, Diego didn't feel like this was as intimate as it should have been, and he wondered if he was still in shock._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Ben motioned for him to lay down, which Diego did, letting Ben pull his duvet up to his chin. The man was actually turning around to leave when Diego caught his hand, not looking at him when he said, “Will you stay?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The hesitation was clear on Ben's face, despite how hard he tried to hide it. “Diego, I don't know…”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I don't want to be alone anymore.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Ben couldn't argue with that. He crawled over Diego, sliding under the blanket, and jumped when Diego's cold fingers touched his arm._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Sorry,” Diego muttered, rolling over and shoving his hands under the pillow. Ben followed suit, and Diego felt his arm wrap around his waist, pulling him closer. They said nothing, but neither of them had ever been big talkers._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Diego couldn't sleep, however, not until he said something. There was a lot spinning around in his head right now, and stutter be damned, he had to tell someone._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“You don't hate me, right?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Ben stiffened, his soft voice ruffling the back of Diego's hair. “Of course not.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Wou-wou-would. Would you hate me? For anything?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Diego felt Ben's hand press against his back, trailing a path up and down his skin. It made him shiver, as did Ben's cool breath against his shoulder._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I really don't think so. Why? What's wrong?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Diego took a deep breath, staring into space and pretending he was alone, in a church or something, confessing his sins to anyone who would listen. He needed forgiveness for what he'd done._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I'm a bad per. Per. Person. I'm a bad person.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Ben stayed silent, his hand still on Diego's back. Back and forth, back and forth. Listening. As only Ben could. As only Ben would._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I use people. I left the academy because I couldn't stand not being number one. I hated some of you, most of you. I blamed Luther alone for your death. I hated y-you for dying.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Ben's hand paused, but didn't stop. Diego's vision blurred, but he didn't let himself stop. He couldn't._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I wanted dad dead. When I thought mom killed him, I protected her, because I didn't think his death deserved avenging._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I've killed people. So, so many people. I got Pa-patch killed; it was my fault. I kill-kill-killed. Mom.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Ben's hand did stop then, and Diego could feel his shock. He couldn't go on, however, because that was what he'd been circling around to, the whole time._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He'd killed Grace. It didn't matter that she was a robot, or his father's creation. He'd killed her and she'd done nothing wrong, could have been reprogrammed, could have been fixed. She was, now, and hadn't even said anything to him. Wasn't mad. Was just… mom._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Ben pulled Diego's shoulder, snapping him out of his inner monologue. Diego rolled onto his back, staring up at Ben, who didn't seem angry. He seemed… sad. Concerned._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Diego had wanted him to be mad, sort of. He needed someone to be mad at him. He deserved it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Ben's hand wandered up Diego's arm, and while Diego watched Ben's face, Ben watched his hand. It stopped on Diego's bicep, on the ugly scar, and Ben tapped it and asked softly, “Why?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I was young. Didn't see the backup guy. He got one in on me before I…”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Ben nodded, his hand landing on another scar, on Diego's side. “This one?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Bar fight, actually.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Face remaining neutral, Ben moved his hand to Diego's face, somehow still avoiding eye contact. He raised his brows, finger tracing the small line through Diego's eyebrow._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Uh, don't remember. Sorry.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The last scar on Diego's face was the one down the side of his skull, the noticeable one. Ben studied it for a long moment, his finger tracing it multiple times. “This one is worse.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Diego swallowed, not wanting to say anything but figuring he owed Ben an explanation, if nothing else. “The we-week after you died, I was angry. Stupid. I didn't really care about uh... Dying. At that point, because you'd just died so I figured, the world won't take me too, right? Not so soon?” Diego laughed humorlessly. “It almost did.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Ben wasn't laughing, in fact, Ben was almost starting to look the slightest bit angry. The worry was still there, but now, it had darkened into something else._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Did you do this on purpose?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Diego sucked in a breath, avoiding Ben's eyes. “What?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Ben threw up his hands. “You did! You--You--” Ben shook him by the shoulders, startling Diego with his volume. “You could have died! You _tried!” _____ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“I'm sorry. I haven't--I didn't--I…” Diego's voice trailed off as Ben began to cry. He hated Ben crying, had hated it for fifteen years and now more. Diego had never thought someone could look so sad, so emotional over someone else's pain. Ben had always been the empathetic one of the Hargreeves._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Wiping at his eyes, Ben whispered, “I got off easy.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Diego disagreed, but his vocal cords weren't working enough to say so. He kept trying to start sentences, picturing so many words in his mind, but was unable to do anything but sit in guilty silence._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Ben crawled back up beside him, reaching down and playing with Diego's fingers. He was so surprised that Ben hadn't left, had touched him at all, that he whispered, “You don't hate me?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Ben didn't look up. “No. I hate what our lives forced us to become.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	15. 00.06

Ben waited until Diego was asleep before he left. It took less time than Ben had figured it would, which he attributed to Diego's emotional exhaustion more than physical. The poor guy had just had one of the worst days in his life, and Ben wasn't about to leave him alone with his thoughts.

When he did leave, he didn't bother with the door, simply vanishing and reappearing in the hall, sitting with his back against the wall as he slid to the floor. He knew he needed to go check on Klaus; that was where he had intended on going. But Diego's words had shaken him, caught him off guard, and to be honest? Being partially alive was _exhausting _. So many feelings. So many thoughts. So many needs.__

__Ben counted to fifteen before he stood up. He gave himself fifteen seconds to breathe, to forget everything, and to prepare. He'd done that for as long as he could remember, alive or dead, as a child or an adult. Fifteen seconds._ _

__When his time was up, he pictured Klaus’ door, not bothering to knock and cracking it open an inch to see if his brother was awake. To Ben's surprise, he was, sitting on the floor with a bottle in his hands. High as a kite, smoke filling the room and making Ben gag at the smell._ _

__Sighing, Ben walked over to Klaus, sitting cross-legged beside him and staring until Klaus looked up. Buried deep in all the layers of substance that consumed him, Klaus’ eyes were sad._ _

__“Hey, Ben.”_ _

__“Hey, Klaus. Whatcha got there?”_ _

__Klaus looked down at the mostly-empty bottle, seeming a little surprised to be holding it. “Not sure. Want some?”_ _

__Ben nodded, proceeding to take the bottle from Klaus and promptly shove it under the bed. “Do you remember what you took?”_ _

__A smile bloomed over Klaus’ face, sloppy and innocent, and while Ben was highly disappointed with his brother, he wasn't mad. He could never be mad at Klaus, no matter how much he'd like to be._ _

__“Not pills!” Klaus clapped, still smiling. “Just, like, a lot of weed. Or something. I smoked it, so.”_ _

__While Klaus seemed proud, Ben wasn't smiling. “That's not any better, Klaus. You need to stop. We need you, okay?” When Klaus’ eyes began to close, Ben nudged him, a little rough. “We need you _alert.” _____

____Klaus sighed, standing up and swaying so violently that Ben feared he would fall. “I am alert. You're still here, stupid.”_ _ _ _

____That little detail did confuse Ben. Usually, when Klaus got high, Ben had a hard time sticking around. Yet here he was, and still able to feel, too. But Klaus was absolutely wasted, so… how?_ _ _ _

____Ben shook that off, asking instead, “Where did you even get drugs from? The world is frozen.”_ _ _ _

____Klaus smiled smugly, his eyes struggling to focus. “Found some, in here. Young me did old me a solid.”_ _ _ _

____That made sense, Ben supposed. “What about your powers?”_ _ _ _

____Giggling, Klaus waved him off, tripping backwards and landing sprawled on the bed. “Who cares? The world ended anyway. You're here! I think we're all pretty okay.”_ _ _ _

____“Vanya isn't,” Ben snapped, receiving a hurt look from Klaus. Before he continued, he walked over to the window, opening it wide to air out the room. “None of us are. And I thought you wanted to talk to Dave.”_ _ _ _

____Klaus was clearly falling asleep, but that caught his sparing attention. “Don't. Don't throw him at me, please, Ben. I can't right now.”_ _ _ _

____“You never can, can you?”_ _ _ _

____A light snore was all Ben got for an answer._ _ _ _

____It was clear that something needed to be done about Klaus. They really did need him, now more than ever, and heaven's knew Five was going to be livid when he found out what Klaus had done._ _ _ _

____Ben didn't blame Klaus, however. He'd _almost _been sober, _almost _shook the last of his addiction off, and then… what? What had happened in the time that Ben had left him alone that was bad enough to drive Klaus to this again?_____ _ _ _

________It made sense that this place, more than any other, was hard for Klaus to deal with, not to mention how high-strung he'd been since the apocalypse. Withdrawals forced Klaus to think, to feel, and Ben knew how hard that must be, after so long of not. He knew Klaus was scared, that Klaus was trying his best, but sometimes, the man just needed intervention._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Maybe it was time Ben finally intervened, now that he truly could._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	16. 00.04

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is direct substance use in this one, so please read with caution!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fourth-to-last chapter of part one! I've already started working on part 2, but since nothing is set in stone yet, let me know if there's anything you guys would like to see for our favorite dysfunctional fam! 
> 
> ALSO; shoutout to all the lovely beans who have been sending me so much love through the comments; each one makes my day, and I really do appreciate the feedback and hearing the parts of my writing you all like:') I get 75% of my motivation to write to the best of my ability from you guys, so huge thanks to y'all for that!
> 
> Enjoy!!

After Five's little spiel, Klaus decided to take a bath. Usually, that was the only time he could relax, half-stoned and listening to music to drown out all the ghosts that followed him around like he was their therapist. That was before; now, post-apocalypse and post-drugs, Klaus couldn't sit still if his life depended on it. His hands shook so hard he could barely turn on his music, and the water just felt like it was irritating the itching that was already driving him crazy. 

He didn't want to, he really didn't. Klaus walked into his room with the intention of sleeping off the bullshit Five had filled their heads with, when a voice that wasn't any spirit said to him, _you used to hide molly in your plants._

__Klaus was digging in his long-dead houseplant less than five seconds after the thought, all the while chanting to himself _stupid, stupid, don't do this you stupid bitch. _____

____Bingo. Klaus found the little capsule in a small bag stuffed in the soil, and rolled it faster than he thought he really could. Desperation made up for the shakes, apparently._ _ _ _

____His mantra was still playing on a loop--this is why you're a disappointment, asshole, why would you do this after working this hard--but he breathed in the drug and felt his thoughts melt away into euphoria. He no longer felt that guilt, that voice that told him to stop went away, and Klaus forgot pretty much everything except how he was alive and that was good, right?_ _ _ _

____And everything was good! Until Ben had to walk in and bring the guilt back. Klaus loved his brother, but he also loved the bottle of gin that he cradled in his arms. He offered some to Ben, figuring why not share the thing he loved with his favorite brother?_ _ _ _

____Ben wasn't having any fun, though, so Klaus decided to go to sleep. He ignored Ben as well as he could, tried to ignore the words coming out of his mouth in what he probably thought was a gentle way, but even Klaus couldn't ignore one word._ _ _ _

____Dave._ _ _ _

____No, no, he's not here and you don't want him here anyway, seeing you like this, pathetic and weak and-_ _ _ _

____Klaus mumbled something that he didn't remember, and that ended in, “I can't right now.” A lame excuse, but he really couldn't. Molly was stronger than Ben or Dave, right now. So was sleep, which he welcomed with open arms._ _ _ _

____Klaus acknowledged that he had a problem. He also acknowledged his sleepiness. And that was enough for now, right? Identifying the problem?_ _ _ _

____He thought so._ _ _ _


	17. 00.03

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surprise noon update! Three chapters to go, friends:)

After her ultimatum with Luther, Allison found herself in tears. Not because of Luther, necessarily, but because she missed her daughter. Claire always made her feel better, because even when Allison was the worst person in the world, Claire treated her like the best. What Allison wouldn't give for just ten minutes with her daughter, right now, when the world didn't even exist and her family was so broken that even Allison didn't know what to do to fix it. 

She didn't care what Sir Reginald had thought of her. She didn't care that she was technically number five now. She didn't care that the world had ended, partially because of her. She just cared about seeing her baby again. Was that really so much to ask? She loved her siblings, sure, but she didn't love anyone as much as her daughter. She never could, she knew, and the fact that Claire didn't even really exist right now was breaking her heart. 

They'd all lost someone recently. Allison knew this, and she felt for her family. Diego, losing Patch. Klaus, losing Dave, losing a whole year. Even Luther, losing their father, as ridiculous as that might seem. Vanya, losing herself. 

But none of them had lost a daughter. A child they had raised and given their whole lives to, a child that was the only positive thing they had brought into this awful world. Only to have that awful world cease to exist. 

Allison knew she was having an existential crisis of sorts, and she knew there were more practical things to worry about. But she couldn't help it, couldn't help shutting the door to her room and crying, crying like she was a teenager again, muffling her sobs in her favorite pillow and hugging herself as she rocked. Allison needed to be strong, for her family and for herself, but she let herself have this time to get it all out. All the pent-up anger and sadness and guilt and betrayal she felt, some at herself, some at the whole world. Luther. Patrick. Reginald. Vanya. Herself. A circle of suffocating emotions that she couldn't escape, sobbing until her throat was throbbing and her face burned. 

And then she sat at her vanity, taking a makeup wipe and cleaning the dried salt and ruined makeup from her face, fanning herself until the redness went away. She turned her light off, crawling into her too-small bed and counting off her breaths until her heart calmed down.

Allison could do this. Allison had beaten everything that her life had thrown at her thus far, and she would beat this. She would. She had to.

Allison would not let circumstance beat her.


	18. 00.05

Five had only been asleep for two hours before thinking of an idea that could save them all, or at least postpone their doom. He sat bolt upright in bed, half-thinking that this idea was a disaster waiting to happen, and half-thinking that he was a genius. He decided to wait it out and see.

The worst that could happen was the world ending. Again. And if it did, he'd deal with it again, the same way he always did. Self-preservation was one of the strongest emotions in the world, Five had discovered. 

Five bounced to each of his siblings, barely throwing “meet in Vanya’s room” at them before moving to the next. He barely noticed the disheveled sight of Klaus, the way Diego and Ben jumped apart guiltily, or the way Allison was sniffling as though she'd been crying. 

When they all made their way to him--much too slowly for his agitated state--he started speaking, quickly and messily, not bothering to simplify things for them.

“We need to go to a timeline where these things didn’t happen. This is still our timeline, just frozen--there are others, other realities, that exist, and we can hide there until we figure out how to fix everything. I looked over some temporal equations, and we should be safe, as long as we remove our trackers and keep a low profile once we-”

Klaus was actually the person that stopped him first, to his surprise. His brother looked horrid, eyes unfocused and face sweaty, and if Five hadn’t been so preoccupied, he just might have kicked Klaus’ ass. He promised himself he would one day soon, and Klaus began to speak, rubbing his temples.

“Trackers?”

Five sighed. “Yes, trackers. In our--your--arms. Sir Reginald must have put them there when we were very young. I’ve already removed mine.”

The siblings seemed to have an issue with this, mumbling and but whispering and causing general uproar, and Five had run out of patience long ago. 

“Enough!” he yelled, silencing the room and receiving a look from Pogo. Five ignored him. “Yes, it's going to suck. No, I don't know what will happen. I do have a plan, though, which is more than the lot of you has.”

Turning to Luther first, Five began doling out instructions. “Luther, you're in charge of removing your’s and Vanya's trackers. Right arms, here,” Five pointed to his new scar, where he'd dug his own out. “Dress casually. Meet in the foyer at eight.”

He turned to Diego next. Old ranks died hard, he supposed. “I need you to get Mom ready, and to get your tracker out. You'll be fine, but none of-” Five waved his hands at Diego's attire. “That. You can bring it, but not wear it. Get a backpack.” Turning his back to Diego's glare, Five locked eyes with Allison. 

“Klaus?” he asked, receiving a nod and proceeding in directing his attention to Klaus. 

“You. Will. Not. Bring. Any. Drugs. Clear?”

Klaus nodded wearily, mumbling something rude about Five, which Five didn't care to hear. “Ben?”

Ben looked up, worry hardening his features, and Five wished he could spare time to be gentle to his dead brother. 

“I don't know what's going to happen to you when this goes down. Ideally, you'll still be corporeal, but if not, I'm holding out the hope that you can stick with Klaus. I'm really not sure though. Are you okay with this?”

Ben had no other choice but to nod, and Five dismissed the group to their assignments. Five had taken it upon himself to A, get Delores, and B, talk to Pogo. He was already to B by the time the group had finally fully split off. 

“Pogo, you're coming with us.” 

Pogo instantly looked hesitant. “Master Five, I'm not so sure if that's-”

“I don't care,” Five snapped back. “Despite the obvious fact that you are part of this family, we need you in case Vanya does wake up. So, get ready.” 

Pogo nodded after another brief moment of hesitation, and Five was finally left to his thoughts of _what the hell am I about to do to the timeline now? ___


	19. 00.06

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We end as we begin~with our favorite ghost boy:) I hope you've all enjoyed this post-canon AU, and if you have, I would love if you'd check out part two, 'Next', coming this Wednesday!

Ben didn't like Five's plan one bit. First off, he hated blood, and was absolutely not taking his stupid tracker thing out by himself. Secondly, Five hadn't really given him anything to do, so he followed Diego into his room, sitting on the bed and waiting for Diego to finish prepping Grace--and a backpack--for this suicide mission. 

Once Diego told Grace to wait for him in the foyer, Ben stood up, reaching into Diego's backpack and choosing the least-scary knife he could fine. Which didn't help much--every knife Diego owned was terrifying. At Diego's inquisitive look, Ben took a deep breath, handing over the knife and tapping the inside of his forearm. 

“I need you to do it.” 

Diego was shaking his head before Ben had even finished speaking. “Ben, I don't want-”

Ben ground his teeth, trying to remember to breathe. “I don't trust anyone else, alright? Let alone myself. I don't know if I can bleed, but I know I'll be able to feel it, so please?”

After a long, debating moment, Diego sighed. “Fine. But I'll go first. That's my deal.”

Agreeing, Ben led the way to the bathroom, where Allison had left the medical supplies on the counter. Diego took one, deep breath, and dug the knife into his arm. 

Ben turned around and threw up in the sink.

By the time he'd finished, Diego was already done, the bloody little flashing device laying in a small pool of blood on the counter. Ben washed his face and hands quickly, returning to Diego in time to help him clean and bandage his wound. Diego, the bastard, seemed perfectly fine. 

“It really looks worse than it is,” he offered, smiling at Ben to try and reassure him. It didn't work. “Looks like I have four scar stories now.” 

Ben rolled his eyes. “Just do it before I faint or something.” 

Diego shrugged, gently moving Ben's arm to where it rested flat against the countertop. Diego felt around for a moment, finding his mark, and caught Ben's terrified stare with his own. 

“You'll be alright,” he said calmly, squeezing Ben's hand. “Just look at me, yeah? Don't look at the knife. It's going to sting, but try to stay still. It'll be over quick.”

Ben did as Diego said. He stared at Diego's calm face, trying not to flinch away when he felt the cool metal press into his arm. He whimpered when he felt his skin rip, a wave of dizziness hitting him, but remained focused on Diego. His lips, his eyelashes, his neck--anything to distract himself. He was counting to fifteen before consciously making the decision, and when he got to thirteen, Diego stood back. 

“Ta-da. Not so bad, right?”

Ben's arm was already bandaged and everything. He didn't reply, stepping forward and hugging Diego tightly. He could feel Diego's heartbeat against his chest, and while the man had appeared calm, his pulse was rapid. Thank God Ben hadn't been able to know that before. 

 

Once the Academy were all present in the foyer--matching bandages on six of their arms--Five appeared, looking just about as stressed as Ben had ever seen him. 

“Everyone link arms. I've only done this once, so bare with me.” 

They all did as he said, no one saying a word, and Ben was reminded of the night of the apocalypse. The circle, the way Luther was holding Vanya, the look on Five's face--they'd been here only days before. 

“Well, I’ll see you guys on the other side. I hope.” 

Five closed his eyes, the air around them rippling and cracking with electricity, and Ben suddenly feared dying again. There was a zap, a loud tearing sound, and…

_part two, tbc~ ___

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe I've written NINETEEN chapters about this show already--crazy what loveable characters can do for the imagination:) Thank you all for kudos and bookmarks and comments, I can't wait for you to read part two! You've all been the best, and shoutout especially to RealityXIllusion and NightjarPatronus for giving SO MUCH amazing feedback; these comments made me smile so much guys:) I'll see you all Wednesday with part two, Next!


	20. Part 2!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Just in case y'all haven't seen, I've uploaded part two of this fic, Next! If you liked part one, head on over there and let me know what you think of part two so far!

(And of course, big thanks for all of the support so far!


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